Namesake
by 13HoursInWonderland
Summary: He opened him mouth to say something but, for once, tripped over his tongue. This couldn't be right. It wasn't plausible. Not after what he'd seen. After what he'd done. Axton's gun had made the crippling shot on her machine for vaults sake. Yet the longer he stared into that tiny visible patch of the woman's face he couldn't fathom anyone else having eyes like hers.
1. A Drink With A Stranger

While Pandora was still a hell hole brimming with gas-mask wearing psychopaths, murderous midgets, and alien monsters, some evenings could prove calm and relatively quiet; like the minute lapse between rifle shots, a fractional second of calm. It was these rare evenings Axton found he favored wandering down to overlook, preferring the comparative ease of the Holy Spirit's over Moxxi's more chaotic bar.

Although Axton was the type of man that enjoyed nights of pulsing music beating his ear drums, cigarette smoke assaulting his nostrils, and dodging wasted patrons as they fumbled around him, tonight was not one of those night. Upon ordering his drink, however, the commando realized that maybe the next few hours weren't mean to parallel his current sense ease and relaxation, a pair of pretty blue eyes catching his attention.

In a far, dark, cornered booth of the room sat a woman he'd never seen among bar's regulars. And despite fact that she was cover head to toe with faded, heavy clothing Axton could make out a tantalizing figure below. Supple curves outlined themselves against the wrinkles of a dark jacket. Pale, creamy skin peaking between a low hood and high scarf. Elegantly shaped eyes with long dark lashes hinted of beauty that the commando hoped extended to the parts he couldn't see.

The ex-soldier resisted a initial urge to saunter over to woman with a cheesy pick up line that he would find hilarious but, as experience had taught him, would only gain a knee in his groin or a drink to his face. Instead, he stretched to his feet as nonchalantly as possible, gravitating toward the lonely booth with forced patience.

"Drinking alone ain't as fun as drinking with company." He started innocently enough. "Mind if I join you?'

She jumped at request, her gaze darting across the commando like a spooked animal. Patiently Axton stood his ground as she eyed his smirk, than his shield, and lastly his gun.

"S-Sure." A single, light word eventually stumbled past the woman's scarf. The quietness of response, a possible hint of reluctant agreement, did little to deter Axton.

As he settled himself in seat opposite the woman he noted her lack of a shield and gun. The way she kept fidgeting under his gaze. How her responses to his flirting were always short and patchy, but this didn't alarm him, especially considering most of the residents of Overlook suffered from skull shivers. The one thing that did peak his curiosity was the way she'd tensed up when he asked her name.

"I-I don-t like names."

"You don't like names?"

"Th-They are mis-leading."

"I suppose that can be true." Axton pondered as he took a swig of his beer. "Suppose it can go the other way around as well. I got this buddy Zer0, and I probably couldn't think up a better name for the guy even if you paid me. Can't say if that's his actual name though."

"L-isten." Finally giving up on avoiding Axton's gaze, the woman looked up. Intensity of her visible features tickled the surface of the commando's brain, like a image he knew he'd seen before but couldn't recall where. "I-I appreciate what your doing, especially when I'm so shielded, but this isn't a good idea. In fact, I don't know why I even let you sit with me. How I didn't notice you come into the bar. It's stupid of me. I need to get out of here-"

"Woah." As panic rose in the woman's voice Axton reached out with a soothing tone and easy smile. "Calm down. No pressure darling. If I'm making you nervous we can just be friends. How about that? Friend?"

"I've already proven myself to be a crappy friend."

Her words were louder then, more pronounced than a whisper for the first time. While on some level the commando noted her new tone as something eerily beautiful, like an exotic flower that did not belong on Pandora, it was its smoothness that made him look up. A minute ago she had been an image of a warn-down skull shivers victim, yet, as Axton realized she'd stop stuttering, he saw something bold behind light surface of those pretty eyes. Their was something hauntingly foolhardy hidden in the irises, chilling the ex-soldier as if he'd seen a ghost.

Soon enough familiarity dawned on the commando as he examined those eyes like he would consider a challenge, the following realization explaining where his sense of nostalgia had spawned from.

He opened him mouth to say something but, for once, tripped over his tongue. This couldn't be right. It wasn't plausible. Not after what he'd seen. After what he'd done. Axton's gun had made the crippling shot on her machine for fuck's sake. Yet the longer he stared into that tiny visible patch of the woman's face he couldn't fathom anyone else having eyes like hers.

"Angel?"

The name slipped out of him before Axton could think about what he was asking. Upon later inspection the commando couldn't say he was alarmed when the woman shot up from table as if he'd just told her he was about to drag her down a dark alley. Nor was he really surprised when his attempt to keep her from fleeing failed; his Hyperion shield shorting out with a nasty hiss as he grabbed for the woman, an electric shock momentarily numbing his limbs.

* * *

A/N: Wanted to try my hand at an Angel survives fic and this is what I came up with. Had a hell of a time trying to figure which vault hunter would be the one to run into her though. Sense I got a wide variety of suggestions of who should be a possible romantic interest with no one really standing out I think I'm just going to make it Axton for no really valid reason. Maybe because thats the first place my brain went for some reason? Anyways, enjoy and please review!


	2. Conversation In The Dark

When Axton tried to explain what had transpired in The Holy, his team had glared with expressions ranging from twisted amusement to restrained distaste. They all, however, had dismissed happening as the result of the commando's inebriated mind.

How could Axton have sat across from a woman without realizing he'd watched her die some months prior? Shamelessly hit on her as if he couldn't recognize that bittersweet voice that had pleaded for an end to her life of servitude? Shared a drink with her like she wasn't the siren that had been the cause, and in a way redemption, of so much shit, then let her slip away when his liquor-buzzed mind finally caught on that she was in fact all of the above? The ex-soldier himself had to admit that he just couldn't quite fathom the situation.

Trying to relive that fuzzy night only put unwanted pressure on his mind, and yet Axton found his baffled brain couldn't stop itself from continuously trying to piece together what he'd experienced in Overlook that evening. As consequence, for the past four days Axton had spent much of his free hours in Moxxi's bar, dulling confusion with alcohol and gambling. However, by the fifth night, the commando's favorite beer began to lose its calming effects, leaving him painfully alert and coherent. Taking care of a clear mind tonight, it would seem, required harsher measures.

Ready for a hard bottle of rakk ale, Axton made to move for the bar, only to stall as the establishment's neon lights shorted and pulsating speakers cut to silence. Street lights outside shortly followed suit, as Sanctuary darkened like torchlight against a strong burst of wind.

"Just a minor internal issue," Scooter's voice soon slurred an explanation over city's echo channels. "No need to go screamin' through the streets. Sanctuary's not about to drop out of the sky- at least not tonight. Only a matter of gettin' inside her and findin' the right spot."

While most around the ex-soldier cursed and cried; Axton only moaned. Loudly. Irritably. No lights meant no power. No power meant no slot machines and, if his luck wasn't good (which it hadn't been lately), limited hard liquor.

As the commando racked his head for something to keep the rising, pesky, questions from fully diluting his thoughts, a small feminine figure silently slipped into seat opposite him.

"As much as I'd welcome a distraction Gaige, I'm not really in the company mood right now." Axton groaning at petite silhouette that could only belong to the smallest person in Sanctuary. When she didn't immediately stir Axton rolled his eyes, downing what was left of his too weak beer. "Why don't you go help Scooter with getting Sanctuary's power back online? Seems like something you'd enjoy do-"

"Hello friend."

With sentence's first syllable, the commando's muscles began to tense. His eyes dilated as the sentence left Axton with a heavy sense of awe and nostalgia. Looking straight into the face of figure across from him, the ex-soldier strained to make out their features. And while darkness proved to be a hindrance, the commando did manage to register a womanly form cloaked by frumpy clothing and luminescent markings peaking from between a long sleeve and short glove.

"So-" The ex-soldier spoke softly, putting his glass down slowly as if sudden movement would frighten his company into running, "it's you. This mean I'm not crazy?"

"Oh, you certainly are insane. Most people on Pandora are in one way or another."

Following those words, despite everything else, amusement tugged at the commando's lips. While her statement had been soft, serious, and the voice oh-so-familiar, something about hearing that tone again made Axton want to grin. Nevertheless, when the seriousness of what had just been confirmed dawned on the commando his amusement wavered.

"How did you survive?"

"That's complicated."

"I got the time."

"Well I don't." The woman squirmed as her already quiet voice softened into a barley audible whisper. Her figure twitched and shifted against the darkness of blackout. "I'm not sure how long the power failure will last and I don't plan on being here after the lights come back on."

"Wait..." Axton hissed, a bit of his former amusement stirring below an odd sense of reverence and wryness, "is this your doing?"

"I just came to ask for your silence." Dodging his inquiry, the ex-soldier could hear panic starting to weave its way into her words. And, while he couldn't see her expression, Axton could easily picture paranoia beginning to reflect in her eyes. "This world already believes in my death. After everything I have done, everything I am guilty of, my feeble attempts to make it right, I think it is best if Pandora's guardian Angel stays dead."

"If your looking for secrecy I don't think risking a visit to Sanctuary was good way to start. Why couldn't you have just echoed me?"

For a long moment there was silence. Even the other patrons of Moxxi's bar seemed unusually settled, making this particular moment between Axton and the lady across from him all the more tense. Then, with a tone still soft but strong with determination, she spoke. "I've spent to many years listen and watching people through satellites and computers. I wanted to do this in person. Hear your response with my own ears. See your reaction with my own eye."

Again, despite how Axton knew he should be treading, a sense of playfulness sparked through the situations solemness; his mouth shooting off like an inexperienced hand on a trigger. "You were pining to see me, hmm?"

"Not- not like- that." For a moment the woman across from the ex-soldier stumbled over herself. While Moxxi's bar remained as dark as the rocks of Eridium Blight, Axton didn't need sight to see the awkward expression he'd spawned or its accompanying blush.

"Alright, I'm game." Holding back a chuckle flirtation hit Axton hard, as if it had been beaten into him by goliath fists. "One condition though. We make out."

"-Um- no-"

"Fine. I can see that as unreasonable. I guess I'll just have to settle for seeing you again. "

"I do not think that is wise."

"I never said it was."

* * *

So sorry I haven't updated anything in a few weeks. I needed to finish some cosplays, then AnimeIowa happened (speaking of which did any of my readers go to that? Maybe we saw each other?! I actually was dressed as guardian Angel one day and Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite another) I finally just got done moving, and now I will probably be without home Internet for a few weeks. Again my apologies for past and upcoming delays but hopefully waits wont be that long. As always thankies for reading and please review.


	3. Echo Chatter

On days when the rest of the team had left Axton alone and considerably disenchanted, the commando would pull out his echo device, turn it to an abandoned channel and start talking. He had first done this initially out of boredom when Handsome Jack was still a threat. Back then, he hadn't really expected any replies to his dull ramblings, but every once and a while the Guardian Angel's voice broke through the static and commented on how she really wished he wouldn't consider shooting himself in the foot to dull the monotony. Now, months after the vault had been opened and the warrior destroyed, whenever Axton spoke into the white noise, he couldn't be sure that she could still hear him. Still, that never stopped the commando.

Then, one evening when Maya and Zer0 had run off to Caustic Caverns (heaven only knew why those two took so many trips down there) and Tiny Tina had enticed the rest of the team away with promises of exploding bandits, _her_ familiar voice broke through the dead channel's constant hum.

"It's nice to see your endearing habits haven't changed after all this time on Pandora."

Axton was silent for only a second, before a smirk broke out. "I'm a little disappointed in you," he begun, "I was under the impression we'd be seeing each other again real soon, but I haven't heard from or seen you since Sanctuary's blackout. Now, that's not very sociable; I thought we were friends."

"Why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing what exactly?" She didn't reply; the following uneasy silence told him she knew he was teasing. Nevertheless, Axton waited a time before speaking again, if only to see how long she could bear the silence. After a few minutes he found himself mildly impressed with her patience. Most people on Pandora couldn't go five minutes without yelling about something.

"Come on darling. Do I really have to say it? A smart lady like you should be able to figure it out." When she continued to remain quiet, Axton sighed, running his fingers through his short hair. The last woman that had been this calmly stern with him was Sarah, and he found it so aggravatingly enticing that he'd married her. "You haven't kept in contact like promised. I thought this might draw you out."

"I never agreed to seeing you again."

"You never disagreed either."

"Like I said before, continued contact would not be a wise thing."

"Was going after the vault a wise idea, especially after Jack tried to blow us up?" Again, silence prevailed at the echo's other end and the unease began to seep through the connection like an eridium barrel pelted with bullet holes.

"Why would you even want to see me again anyway?" She finally inquired after the awkward silence had become unbearable. "People have died because of the things I complied with! Almost everything I ever told you and your friends was a lie! And then, when I finally did take the opportunity to rebel, it only caused more misfortune!"

"Sweetheart, you can't completely blame yourself for all the shit that went down. The way I see it, you didn't have much choice in the matter. Besides, how were you to know that all hell would break loose once you started standing up for yourself?"

"I knew him."

"No one could have predicted what would happen. Not even the all-knowing Guardian Angel."

More silence followed. When she spoke again it was quieter than normal, "Why would you want to see me again?"

"I just-" Axton hesitated, trying to determine what were the best words to use. Plenty of answers to that question circled his head. She was a siren. She was hot. She had inside intel on Hyperion. She could hack technology with ease and, was essentially an outcast like the rest of them. "-I suppose you could call it a do over. After following the sound of your voice for so long, the way we met in person wasn't right. I think we deserve- you deserve- a chance at at least one honest meeting in a lifetime, don't you?"

The channel's constant hiss was beginning to wear on the commando's ears as he listened for a reply. An audible click eventually sounded, giving the indication that she had logged off the channel. Just as Axton swore at his luck (he had thought he'd been doing rather well), another click came.

"The raised structure behind the gunner station in Overlook. I'll meet you there."

* * *

Axton found her exactly where she said she'd be fifteen minutes later. Seated on the floor her knees were hugged to her chest. Her body still covered head to toe in what looked to be the same baggy, concealing get-up she'd worn that night in The Holy Spirit. Hood still low and scarf still high.

"Well, if it ain't the lady that doesn't like names." As the ex-soldier caught sight of her bright blue eyes he couldn't help but grin. "If this is to be an honest meeting I don't suppose there is any chance you'll let me see the rest of that pretty face of yours?"

Her eyes shifted as she considered this. Axton tensed, half expecting her to bolt like she had all the other times they'd met after her supposed death. Then, finally, her hands rose, the hood came down, and the scarf was removed.

"H-Hello Axton." She blushed, causing the commando's grin to widen.

"Hello there Angel."

* * *

As I mentioned in my Quite A Couple story, contrary to popular belief I have not given up on my stories. Just had life to worry about for a while (also my beta took her time in getting my most recent chapters edited) anyways enjoy and please review!


	4. Broken Promises part 1

In many ways, Angel was in control of their communications that were elusive at best. Though she'd never said so, Axton knew the siren preferred it this way, since the less she had to do with him, the better her chances were at not being discovered. So, Axton tolerated it, though if matters were in his own hands, he would pester Angel every day. Making her blush, which turned out to be surprisingly easy, was fast becoming a fond hobby of his and a man needed hobbies that didn't always involve shooting something foul, especially when that man happened to live on Pandora. Yet, Axton knew if he pushed her too much, she could always make herself disappear. After all, Angel had so far managed to keep her survival a secret from all of Pandora, with the exception of him, naturally.

This was why when the better portion of one morning was spent trying to hail Angel on his Echo device with no success, Axton wasn't really concerned. He had recently learned the siren had the patience of a saint and could go for days putting up with his rambling echoes (it didn't matter which abandoned channel he chose to speak through, she always seemed to hear him). That being said, the commando had also noticed, whether she wanted to or not, Angel always answer him sooner or later; it was only a matter of time. Thus, Axton pushed on, even as he ventured down to Eridiam Blight, having recently taken on a job collecting odd plant life for Tannis and recalled questionable looking fauna decorating Handsome Jack's Grandmother's house.

"Let me guess," The ex-soldier continued where he had left off before a swarm of rakks had diverted his attention, "you're giving me the silent treatment 'cuz of those cloths I gave you last time we met up? I know they are a bit less-covering than what you've been wearing recently, but really darling, you can't keep showing up to our dates in the exact same attire every time. Makes me think you don't have any other clothes! That's the reason I got you the new outfits, so never mind how they look. Honestly, I think I could have done worse considering most of the garb came from stuff Mad Moxxi was trying to get rid of."

Making his way across the barren ash-land, Axton waited a few minutes for a reply. When none came he once again raised his echo device as his destination come into sight. "I hate it when we fight like this. I really do. Makes me think we don't care about each other. And we do care about each other right-"

The ex-soldier stopped short, both verbally and physically, upon the sight outside Jack's grandmother's house. A battle had recently occurred here; a moderate collection of expired bandits and Hyperion loader's littered the yard, most of the robots still smoking and some of the bandits not yet pale.

Raising his rifle while lowering the echo, Axton advanced onto the grounds cautiously. Though nothing looked to be alive, a surviver could still be lingering about and both loaders and bandits had a habit of shooting vault hunters on sight.

He didn't run into trouble until entering the run-down shack. As he turned a corner into a room off the entrance, a short round of bullets grazed his shield.

"That's not a very nice way to say hello." Axton grumbled to himself as he ducked behind the relative safety of an adjacent door. Just as he was thinking maybe these plants weren't worth it if a psycho clan had recently moved in, the gunfire was replaced with a familiar voice that almost made the commando grin.

"Ax- Axton?"

A braved look around his barricade confirmed his thoughts. That was most certainly Angel's voice, but the sight of her was not a welcoming one. The siren looked as if she were in desperate need of a med kit. She was gray and sickly looking, mostly horizontal against the floor trembling badly. One tense hand clutched at a blood stain near her shoulder, the other barely holding onto the grip of a pistol.

"Angel?" Moving into room with as much speed as caution would grant him, Axton kept his gun at the ready. He didn't get a reply, as the siren grew progressively limper while he advanced. By the time Axton made it to her side, her eyes had rolled up and behind their lids.

A moment later he had fumbled a spare vile of Dr. Zed's finest from his supplies and injected substance into the downed siren. What in hell's name could have done this to her, the commando wondered as he wearily watched her rasping breaths calm and tremors slow to shivers. Experience told Axton that sirens were durable; it would have taken a much more then a feuding collection of bandits and loaders to take Maya or Lilith down. Then again, Angel wasn't like the other sirens. She'd spent most of her life hooked up to a Hyperion machine. Had she ever even been in a fight before? At the very least, the siren seemed to know the basics of using a gun, otherwise Axton doubted she'd even been able to hit his shield five minutes earlier.

"Won't- won't be enough."

His attention drawn away from his concerned musings, Axton realized that Angel's eyes had returned to where they should be, but their color was much duller then normal and she was struggling to keep them open.

"What?"

Moving as if her arm weighted as much as a machine gun, Angel gestured to empty med vile, "That- won't be enough."

"Don't worry love. I have plenty." The ex-soldier soother, reached back into his supplies.

"I don't need it."

"Forgive me for disagreeing darling, but you really do."

"No." Angel gasped, then coughed a painfully unpleasant sound, her voice becoming slow and patchy. "Eridiam. I'm- I'm still dependent- on it. I need Eridiam."

"You got some stashed around here?"

"Bandits found my supply. They've- been harassing me since. Hack-hacked loaders to keep them- at bay. I- was- already weak by the time- and it's all gone now."

"Shit." Axton tried to keep the curse to himself, but it slipped out. He didn't have any Eridiam on him, and while the landscape outside held much potential for farming the element, Angel didn't look like she would last long with out a decent supply and a decent supply would take time to find. He didn't want to leave her alone in this state anyway. Word might have spread by now that Handsome Jack's granny's housed was an easy supply of Eridiam as long as you were good at taking out robots.

Straightening to his feet, the commando could only think of one other alternative. Although, that alternative probably meant that Angel would most likely be so pissed at him she'd disappear on him for good. If she survived, that is.

"Fuck it. I'm calling in help." Angel didn't protest as he grabbed for his echo device, but by the looks of it that was probably because she'd gone comatose.

* * *

A/N: Wow I'm really falling behind on my updates! Apologies, but I suppose it could be worse? Anyway, thankies for reading and please review!


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